Armed only with his mysterious mental connection to the feral minds of studio executives, the Movie Guru reveals just how good or bad this week's new releases will be:

ADAPTATION (R)
Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) takes on more wacky self-referential fare with the tale of Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage), a screenwriter struggling to adapt Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep)'s book The Orchid Thief. Written by Kaufman (who doesn't look like Cage).
Prediction: The guru's wayyyy ahead of you... we already ran the review. If you missed it check out.

ANTWONE FISHER (PG-13)
As autobiographical as a film can come, Fisher is based on the life story of its title character, who wrote the screenplay. Newcomer Derek Luke plays Antwone, a hot-headed sailor who comes to terms with himself and his family through the aid of a doctor (Denzel Washington, who also directs).
Prediction: Great therapy for Fisher, who notes, "I wanted to tell my story because the opportunity presented itself and I was told that I could not do it." But is that reason enough to engineer this tear-jerker?

EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO (R)
The filmmakers claim this is "one of the most controversial films ever made." While it might not reach that pinnacle, this drama from Mexican director Carlos Carrera does focus on a corrupt church where priests assist guerrillas, take money from drug lords and have affairs with teenage devotees. Seems modern stuff, but it's based on a 19th-century novel.
Prediction: Worth a look, but don't take your nun.

IN PRAISE OF LOVE (PG)
Another comeback film for legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard. An intentionally disjointed effort: the first half follows a director trying to make a movie on "the four stages of love." The second half jumps back more than two years as that same director undertakes a project on the French resistance.
Prediction: Nonsensical and visually assured, it'll be just what the French love best. That may or may not be a good thing.

JUST MARRIED (PG-13)
Brittany Murphy (8 Mile, Clueless) and Ashton Kutcher (Dude, Where's My Car?, TV's That '70s Show) go on the honeymoon from hell. Sample hilarious hijink: their American sex toy blows all the fuses in a posh European hotel. Har dee har har.
Prediction: Dude, where's my acting skills?

NARC (R)
Jason Patric's been tossed off the force after he accidentally shot a pregnant woman. Now, he's wanted back on the beat, to partner with hardened veteran Ray Liotta and figure out who killed a fellow undercover officer.
Prediction: If you've seen Donnie Brasco and Reservoir Dogs, you know what happens to undercover cops when they get in too deep. If you want to see it again, go see Narc.

Comfort Film

Comedy is cinematic comfort food.

So, if gentle satire—farce, really—on manners, customs, and love is your cup of tea, then check out The Importance of Being Earnest (2002, PG). Based on the Oscar Wilde play, Earnest is a comedy of mistaken identities among the English upper class circa 1895. The plot itself is a trifle, a contrivance to allow clever characters to make one sly witticism after another.

For reasons that need not be delved into, best friends Jack (Colin Firth) and Algernon (Rupert Everett) both must pretend to be Ernest, Jack's nonexistent younger brother. The deception is necessary for each to win the heart of his true love: Gwendolyn (Francis O'Connor) in Jack's case, and Cecily (Reese Witherspoon) in Algernon's case. All the while they must keep the truth from Lady Bracknell (Judy Dench), Algie's aunt and Gwen's mother. All the actors inhabit their roles marvelously, and the humor is played broadly enough that even subtler points of Victorian-era manners can be picked up by us moderns.

If something slightly saucier is more to your comedic taste, then try Tortilla Soup (2001, PG-13), MarÍa Ripoll's reconstitution of Ang Lee's wonderfully rich Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (1994). Though Tortilla isn't as tasty as Lee's film, it offers plenty of spice—and heart. Hector Elizondo is Martin Naranjo, widowed father to three grown-up, live-at-home daughters: born-again Christian spinster Leticia (Elizabeth Peña), go-getter with misgivings Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors), and slightly rebellious, slightly tentative Maribel (Tamara Mello). Martin is also a master chef who, since his wife died, cannot taste or smell food, and consequently, has retired from running his restaurant. He now mostly cooks for his daughters and their neighbor, Yolanda (Constance Marie).

The humor in Tortilla derives from the characters and their everyday problems—especially romantic ones. The bickering and squabbling among the three sisters has the feel of a real family's interactions (albeit, a fairly well-adjusted one). However, it is Elizondo's understated performance as the aloof, stern, old-fashioned, but always loving father that anchors the movie.

—Scott McNutt

January 9, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 2
© 2000 Metro Pulse